Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com
ScienceDirect
Journal of the European Ceramic Society 34 (2014) 16431666
Feature Article
Structuring adsorbents and catalysts by processing of porous powders

Farid Akhtar
a,
, Linna Andersson
b
, Steven Ogunwumi
c
, Niklas Hedin
a
, Lennart Bergstrm
a,
a
Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry and Berzelii Center EXSELENT on Porous Materials, Stockholm University, Stockholm 10691, Sweden
b
School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
c
Crystalline Materials Research, Corning Incorporated, USA
Received 15 October 2013; received in revised form 19 December 2013; accepted 5 January 2014
Available online 31 January 2014
Abstract
Microporous materials such as zeolites, metal organic frameworks, activated carbons and aluminum phosphates are suitable for catalysis and
separation applications. These high surface area materials are invariably produced in particulate forms and need to be transformed into hierarchically
porous structures for high performance adsorbents or catalysts. Structuring of porous powders enables an optimized structure with high mass transfer,
low pressure drop, good heat management, and high mechanical and chemical stability. The requirements and important properties of hierarchically
porous structures are reviewed with a focus on applications in gas separation and catalysis. Versatile powder processing routes to process porous
powders into hierarchically porous structures like extrusion, coatings of scaffolds and honeycombs, colloidal processing and direct casting, and
sacricial approaches are presented and discussed. The use and limitations of the use of inorganic binders for increasing the mechanical strength is
reviewed, and the most important binder systems, e.g. clays and silica, are described in detail. Recent advances to produce binder-free and complex
shaped hierarchically porous monoliths are described and their performance is compared with traditional binder-containing structured adsorbents.
Needs related to better thermal management and improved kinetics and volume efciency are discussed and an outlook on future research is also
given.
2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Porous powder; Structuring; Gas separation; Catalysis
1. Introduction
Porous materials with porosities in the microporous (smaller
than 2 nm), mesoporous (between 2 and 50 nm) and macro-
porous (larger than 50 nm) range
1
are extensively used for
applications in catalysis, separation and ltration. Microporous
and mesoporous compounds are researched as materials with
potential applications in e.g. ion exchange,
2
separation and
catalysis,
3
insulation,
4,5
drug delivery,
6
sensors,
7
lasers,
8
low-k
substrates for electronic application,
9,10
and as electrode mate-
rials in e.g. batteries
11
and fuel cells.
12
Macroporous inorganic

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative

Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works License, which
permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original author and source are credited.

Corresponding author. Tel.:+46 8 163568; fax: +46 8 152781.

Corresponding author. Tel.:+ 46 8 162368; fax:+46 8 152781.

E-mail addresses: farid.akhtar@mmk.su.se (F. Akhtar),
lennart.bergstrom@mmk.su.se (L. Bergstrm).
compounds, on the other hand, are studied as materials in
high temperature applications, e.g. ltration of molten metal,
13
refractory insulation
14
and hot gas ltration,
15
and as heating
elements
16
but are also researched for low temperature applica-
tions e.g. as scaffolds for bone replacement.
17,18
Porous inorganic materials are alternatives to polymer-based
ion exchange resins, e.g. for water softening
19
that include the
exchange of Ca
2+
and Mg
2+
with Na
+
and the removal of toxic
heavy metals from waste streams
20,21
and radioactive waste
management.
22
The applications of porous materials to catal-
ysis are numerous, where either the material acts as a support or
is functional itself. The applications range from exhaust control
in cars and trucks to various applications in renery chemistry
such as hydroisomerization and olen production.
23
Industri-
ally important separation processes include drying of air
24
and
liquids,
25
separation of oxygen/nitrogen from air,
26
purica-
tion of H
2
27
aromatic separation,
28
liquid parafn separation
29
and considerable attention has recently been given to car-
bon dioxide (CO
2
) capture from ue gas,
30,31
and biogas
upgrading.
32
0955-2219/$ see front matter 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2014.01.008